John Carter Review

Disney's adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars knocks it out of this world.

It's been a long journey to the screen for the character of John Carter. Many different directors have tried to breathe cinematic life into Edgar Rice Burroughs' space-hopping hero over the years, including Robert Rodriguez, Jon Favreau, and even Sky Captain's Kerry Conran (remember him?).

Something always managed to stall the project though, and it seemed like John Carter's screen adventures were to remain permanently lost in space. Thankfully, all of the stars eventually aligned and the film was handed to Pixar wizard Andrew Stanton. So is the end result worth the wait? The answer is a resounding "yes." John Carter is a fantastic fusion of old-fashioned adventure excitement and modern blockbuster spectacle. In short, it's wonderful.

A Civil War veteran, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) has been a shadow of his former self ever since he returned home from the war. When a group of Apaches attacks the convoy he is a part of, Carter is forced to find refuge in a nearby cave. Much to his surprise, he comes into contact with an alien being and, before you know it, Carter is transported to the world of Barsoom – or as it's known to us earthlings, Mars.

As will usually occur in traditional tales of adventure, our hero finds himself trying to rescue a beautiful woman in distress. In doing so he gets himself embroiled in a planetary conflict between the twelve-foot tall, six-limbed race known as the Tharks and the humanoid cities of Helium and Zodanga. This woman is Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), a princess being forced into marriage with the Zodangan Sab Than (Dominic West) – a man she fears wants nothing more than total control of Barsoom. With Sab Than somewhat of a pawn of Matai Shang (Mark Strong), leader of the holy race known as the Therns, Carter now has to decide whether he should simply focus on finding his way back home, or fight for the good of Barsoom.

Good thing Carter has acquired some incredibly impressive skills, such as increased strength and the ability to leap incredible heights. He uses these skills to impress and befriend the Thark Jeddak (Martian for Emperor) Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe). He also has the adorably-ugly watchdog companion Woola on his side – this thing may look ridiculous, but he is as loyal as they come and as fast as The Flash. You'll be hard-pressed not to fall for this lug.

Dejah (Collins) and John (Kitsch) admire each other's outfits.

Okay, so we've seen the whole 'rescue the princess' routine in everything from Aladdin to Super Mario Bros., but when you consider the age of John Carter's source material (100 years-old!), it's hard to get hung up on the familiarity of that kind of storytelling. It's classic for a reason. It's the kind of heroic fantasy that everyone wishes they could aspire to, and at least here there's a depth to the characters that prevents them from feeling one-dimensional.

Kitsch does a wonderful job of bringing John Carter to life. He has the physicality and presence of a true movie star and his voice is that of someone far beyond his years. The journey that takes his character from reluctant shell to savior of Mars never feels phony. As an ex-Confederate soldier, Carter knows what it's like to fight a war for a cause you don't fully believe in, so when he finally does take a stand to fight, it's a powerful moment.

Likewise, Lynn Collins' turn as Dejah makes it easy for us to believe that Carter could fall in love with her so quickly. She isn't just another damsel in distress – she's a warrior that wants to fight against her union with every fiber of her being, but is torn between making a decision that could lead to the death of Barsoom, or even the enslavement of her people by the Zondangans. Even Thark characters like Tars Tarkas and his daughter Sola (Samantha Morton) show a sensitivity that goes against their brutish natures to make them feel like more than cartoons. Dominic West and Mark Strong also do fine work in their more villainous roles. (The stellar ensemble also includes Thomas Haden Church as Tars' rival Tal Hajus, three veterans of HBO's Rome -- Ciaran Hinds, James Purefoy and Polly Walker -- and Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston as a U.S. Army officer who clashes with Carter.) It's refreshing to see a modern special effects film that never loses sight of its characters amongst all of the spectacle.

Xena better watch out; there's a new warrior princess in town.

And spectacular it is. Though we have a pretty good idea of what Mars is actually like, the filmmakers behind John Carter have taken Burroughs' source material and created a grand fantasy version filled with strange symmetrical landscapes, alien architecture and various forms of life that we instantly buy into. The Tharks can look a little goofy at times, though they probably couldn't be any closer to the way the race was described in Burroughs' original stories.

The film's action set-pieces are also stellar. A scene where Carter launches himself between a bunch of enormous ships in order to rescue Dejah provides the kind of giddy thrills that have been absent from a lot of recent big budget blockbusters. The most special set-piece, however, involves John Carter finally throwing down the gauntlet to single-handedly fight a whole army of rival green Martians. His fighting is intercut with a terribly sad flashback to his past on Earth, giving the scene an unexpected emotional wallop that knocked us down. Extremely impressive, but what else do you expect from the director of WALL-E?

John Carter is ready to kick ass in the film's standout scene.

The film isn't entirely perfect, though. The film continues the modern trend in cinema of having characters travel to faraway places and then back again just for the sake of expository information, and the film is in such a hurry to get to its great ending that it leaves the final battle feeling a bit limp and without a feeling of closure.

Those minor problems aside, John Carter is wondrous, exciting and emotional entertainment that ends on exactly the right note. It's that rare epic that's not only visually spectacular, but full of heart. My hope is that it will be successful enough to warrant the sequels it so rightly deserves, for it would definitely be a shame not to return to Barsoom again in the near future.